You are here

About the composer

Frederick Delius

"I believe nothing reveals a human being so openly as music. A poet can (probably) dissemble, but a composer must show himself, or nothing at all."

Though considered a characteristically English composer, Delius had his most influential early musical experiences in Florida (including African-American singing) and his formal training in Leipzig, where he became a close friend of Edvard Grieg. A deep appreciation for natural beauty inspired many of the poignant orchestral rhapsodies and tone poems that are his best-known music. The musical core of Delius' style is a long-lined thematic flow derived from Wagner, but in generally lighter textures.